Gene editing specialist Horizon Discovery Group PLC (LON:HZD) has seen its shares on a roll recently and has been cited as a stock to watch in recent media reports. On January 1, it was mentioned in the Sunday Times and it has also been noted in the FT.
Since the New Year the shares have risen almost 13% and have been steadily climbing since early December. It is up 1.54% today at 165p.
The group specialises in gene-editing, namely altering the biological codes that tell a cell how to behave. It has a catalogue of over 23,000 cell generation and application services, which allow researchers to better understand the genetic drivers of the disease in order to develop therapies.
Also, on a fairly quiet day, stockbroker Panmure Gordon (LON:PMR) was a notable riser, adding over 26% to 76p.
Market market makers were scratching heads about the rise as a flurry of trading volumes was seen after lunch.
Nobody at the company was immediately available for comment although the surge in the share price had the bulletin boards buzzing with bid speculation.
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9.30am - InfraStrata shares flare up
Top London gainer on Friday morning was gas storage specialist InfraStrata PLC (LON:INFA) which saw its shares flare up over 55% to 0.7p after it secured its immediate financial future after negotiating a £300,000 loan deal with fellow AIM-listee Baron Oil (LON:BOIL).
The 12-month facility carries a 6% interest rate and will cover the firm’s working capital.
But it won’t be enough to complete the front end engineering and design of its Islandmagee gas storage project in Northern Ireland. The firm is negotiating a larger funding deal, worth around £3mln, to bankroll that.
Goldman positive on Rotork and Smiths Group
Heavyweight broker Goldman Sachs had positive noises for the UK's prospects for domestic growth this year as it started covering manufacturing firm Rotork (LON:ROR) and engineer Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) - both with 'buy' ratings.
For Rotork it forecasts 54% earnings growth by 2020 on an oil & gas capex recovery and greater infrastructure spend.
Smiths Group received a 1,670p price target, saying the firm could narrow its sector discount as it returns to growth.
Meanwhile, Lloyds (LON:LLOY) shares gained 1.57% as it received a New Year boost from Barclays, which has upgraded its rating for the high street rival.
The stance goes to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal-weight' and the price target to 75p from 55p.
In small caps, Amur Minerals Corp (LON: AMC) added 4.17% to 12.5 as the Russia focused mining firm hired an expert in the country's politics and financial systems to the board.
Mr Ljupco Naumovski (known as 'Lou' or 'Louis') has been appointed to the board as a non-executive director with effect from Monday (January 2).
On the losing front, meat retailer Crawshaw Group Plc (LON:CRAW) saw shares cut by almost 7% to 23.75p despiet it saying it had made positive progress over the Christmas period.
Group sales were up 13% in the five weeks to January 1 compared to last year, but like-for-like sales were down 3.8% for the 5 weeks ended Jan 1.